Tuesday, 09/06/16

125 on the dot today !

Today is our second and final staff orientation day, before students return tomorrow. I'm starting down the "for the last time " path... bittersweet.

We are all focusing on adjusting to a permanent healthy lifestyle, for the last time, as well. No more yo yo !  Looking at these shifts as a transition to the "new normal" is working for me.

Morning everyone.

yesterday was a ' I did it ' day.   All day I wanted to bake.  All the long day but each time I thought of the consequences, nibbling, tasting and ultimately just plain eating.   And each time am pleased to say talked myself out of it. 

Made a huge salad and a veggie stir fry instead.   

No walking at all.

Happy start of the work week for those of us who had the holiday yesterday.

No change in weight.  Felt kind of crummy late afternoon/evening and opted not to go on my usual long walk.  Busy day ahead as we make up for the 3 day holiday.   DD starts back to school tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Wt 219   Calories 1258 

Missed yesterday.  I guess I have writer's block. Wt. hanging the same. Eating the same. Calories the same. I keep expecting differently.  I think that is insanity. 

Diane O, Hope bittersweet events are more sweet than bitter. 

Carbon, great restraint!

Thought I'd throw this out there for you to consider: Would you mind posting a typical day with macros? We might be able to trouble shoot. I would expect you to be losing at your calorie level, but some people do need to drop below 1,000 to lose. However, sometimes it's a simple adjustment of macros to kick start the loss. 

Normal day of food: 

Breakfast,  coffee, full fat creamer, 2 eggs, kefir (10 oz)

Snack  Coffee, 160 cal of mixed nuts

Lunch  tuna salad with a few pork rinds for crunch

Snack Coffee, Premier protein bar

Dinner ground turkey 4 oz  sauté cabbage and onion

I have figured the average the past week  I HAD fruit in the house and most of the sugars are coming from that. This did let me see that because of the carb intake my protein has slipped from the 100 gm/day

cal  1152

carbs  102  

fat    55

protein 82

sodium  1780

sugar  38

I go next week for a thyroid level.  

side note:  all weight loss has been with no exercise routine.  I might do it for a week then stop because of pain.  I rode 5 miles today because my mood is in a nose dive and it helps.

Honestly, looking at your average day causes me to wonder why you are not losing weight at this level. That said, I do see a few things that you might want to consider changing.

Overall I see a lack of unprocessed, whole foods - proteins in particular. These help an awful lot with satiety (especially farther out). Eating a lot of processed foods can be highly unsatisfying in the long run for me. (And yes, ground turkey is processed - it's pre chewed. It takes less time to leave your stomach.) 

The first thing I noticed, though, was the inclusion of mixed nuts. Nuts are a calorie dense food high in fat and carbohydrates. On many WLS programs for WL nuts are only a food to be eaten in maintenance. Other than my 2 tsp of chopped pecans on yogurt, I tend to stay away from nuts when in WL mode. It is far too easy to eat a few too many, without accountability.

The second was the Premier Protein Bar. Just going to say it: It's candy bar with protein powder. The fiber is way low. The carbs are way high. If you want a bar, pay the extra $.50 for a Quest Bar (at least that's the difference for me).

While 102 carbs is still considered a low carb diet, if you are at all carb sensitive that may be a problematic level for you. I know that I do far better at about 75 carbs. When I drop down to 40-50 per day, I kick some serious WL butt.

There is also no reason to not jack your protein levels way up. 150-175 per day won't hurt you (except maybe in the poop department). Eating that much protein always kills my appetite. Perhaps that strategy will work for you.

Of course, if it is indeed a medical reason, none of my advice is really worth squat until the medical issue is resolved.

For what it's worth, a typical day for me looks like this right now (this is today's log):

Breakfast: 1.5 cups almond milk with 1 ½ scoop GNC Amplified Wheybolic Extreme, 1 TBS PB2 and 1 tsp cocoa - 212 cals, 34 protein, 9 carbs, 5 fat

Lunch: 3 oz grilled chicken thigh with 3 TBS rice and ¼ cup green beans: Cals 182, protein 27, Fat 3, carbs 11,

Dinner: 3-4 oz Flank Steak, cruciferous salad with Bolthouse dressing,: Cals 268, Protein 34, Fat 12, Carbs 5.

Snacks:

Steel Cut oats with berries and 3 TBS Greek Yogurt

Quest Bar

¾ C Greek Yogurt with berries and ¼ cup whipped cream: Cals 458, Protein 45, Fat 15, carbs 56

Total for the day: Cals 1153, Protein 140, Fat 35, Carbs 82

This is an unusually high carb day for me due to the steel cut oats AND the Quest Bar. I often forego one of the snacks which will drop the calories about 180 and the carbs about 25.

I can imagine your frustration with the bouncing back and forth. I hope you are able to figure out and adjust accordingly soon. Any chance you're just experiencing a stall? I can't remember how much you've already lost, but that could be it, too. Strength, brother! 

Thanks for your input.  I never thought of ground turkey as being processed.  Most of the meats we eat are processed.  Really good delli meats but still processed.  I will look into switching up some things to see if it helps.  The nuts, while I don't crave them, I do like them.  I have let them back into a daily deal but can leave them off.  The candy protein bars are more out of just grabbing something ready to eat.  I used to eat quest.  I like them better.  I had lost 160 lbs and got down to 195.  I started eating nuts and yogurt every meal.  I was still losing but over 6 months I started gaining.  I discovered I had been undercounting the calories in the nut mix.  I went back up 27# to 222 and have been bouncing between 215 and 219.  It helps to have someone else look objectively at my food.    While this may very well be a medical issue I have reduced my calories  by 5-700.  I am surprised and disappointed that the weight hasn't come back off.  

Back down a half pound. Since today is "weigh day" that makes it 3.5 down for the week. I am forcing the celebration of this loss because there is a little part of me that needs to be reminded that just because I was down an extra pound on Saturday a 3.5 loss verses a 4.5 loss is not cause for self recrimination. 

Am ready for the day. Last night I had a moment of strength and decided not to pack a "morning snack" when I made my lunch. I usually make a little Greek Yogurt mixed with wild blueberries from Trader Joe's. Well, just before bed the old "I'm afraid of hunger" me must have taken hold and I quickly threw a 1/2 cup of steel cut oats and a 1/4 cup of blueberries in a tupperware container and added that to my lunch pile. LOL! Some habits are slow to change, but I also view this as a boy scout moment - always be prepared! 

Best to everyone today. 

Diane O. - You go! Fly on down this path to December. No looking back. New Chapter ahead. Whooo Hoooo! 

Hey all!!

Missed yesterday due to a gross work shift.  Was 147.2 yesterday, 2 pound gain for the weekly weigh in!!  I attribute this to more carbs and sodium than usual over the camping weekend.  Back down to 146.6 already today and have lots of good protein packed for work. 

Kids started school today.  They are now in 9th, 7th, and 4th grade, man am I getting old!  I love having them around for the summer but also looking forward to some quiet time on my days off to organize and scrub the house and to continue to work on my running plan.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

Heather